Rain and Shine

Jerusalem is the most hotly contested place in the world. Yet it has no natural resources. It’s resource is its unparalleled balance of rain and shine; The fusion between the material and the spiritual

A Time for Rain

At this time of the year rain seems to be a major focal point:

(a) We just came from the Holiday of Shemini Atzeres when we pray for rain.

(b) This week’s parsha is all about the devastating flood that destroyed virtually all of life on this planet that was caused by rainfall that lasted for forty days and forty nights.

(c) The new month that we are entering into is named Marcheshvan. The prefix “mar” means drops, because this is the month of rain.

(d) Moreover, in classical Hebrew the fall and winter seasons are referred to as “the season (or: days) of rain.”

So important was/is the need for rain that the High Priest’s prayer upon exiting the Holy of Holies on the holiest day of Yom Kippur was for rain, and that G-d should not heed the prayers of the travelers who dislike the rain.

Two Metaphors

Rain in Hebrew is geshem, which also can be rendered as “material” or “physical.” Indeed, rain is the source of and therefore symbolizes all our material blessings.

The sun, on the other hand, though it is also responsible for all of our physical existence is generally viewed as a metaphor for G-dly light. Light in general is the most spiritual form of physical matter and is therefore an appropriate metaphor for the truly spiritual energies that emanate from G-d.

There are places in the world where the sun’s influence is so intense that there is minimal or no rainfall, such as in the deserts. These arid regions do not allow for much physical existence. And conversely there are the jungles or “rainforests” of the world that are so named because they receive very little sunshine, and are inundated with constant precipitation. These areas are likewise uninhabitable by humans, yet they are teeming with myriad forms of animal life.

A Perfect Balance

Where do humans thrive? In those areas where there exists a perfect balance between the two.

It is fascinating that in a recent study of an Israeli meteorologist—who finds a Biblical reference to Jerusalem’s unique climate—the author demonstrates that Jerusalem, indeed, has a unique and beautiful climate because of its unparalleled ideal combination of sun and rain. According to his study, there is no other place on earth that enjoys such a perfect balance between the two.

Jerusalem!

How can we explain the significance of this rain and sun combination and its relationship to Jerusalem?

The name Jerusalem is actually a composite of two other names it was called in the past: In next week’s parsha it is referred to as “Shalem,” whereas in the following parsha— in the narrative of the Binding of Isaac— Abraham named it “Yireh.” After he had passed the test in which he was told by G-d to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah— the eventual site of the Temple in Jerusalem—the Torah states that “he named that place ‘G-d will select (yireh).” This meant, as Rashi explains, G-d will eventually select this site as the place upon which His presence will be revealed and the site where offerings will be made.

When we place the two names—Yir’eh and Shalem together—it forms the composite name of “Yir’eh-shalem,” or Jerusalem.

Thus, if we had to translate the word Jerusalem accordingly it would yield the following: “Complete awareness of G-d.” In other words, Jerusalem is the city where our awareness of G-d is not compromised in any way.

Compromising G-dly Awareness

In order to understand the significance of Jerusalem let us examine the two ways one’s awareness of G-d can be compromised.

On the one hand, one can forget G-d’s presence and lead a totally materialistic and even hedonistic lifestyle.

Moreover, one can even degenerate to the point where they do not even act like a normal animal would. A normal animal does not do self-destructing things. Some humans will engage in such destructive behavior that they bring about their own early demise. They create a veritable jungle where only animalistic tendencies can survive and flourish.

In some cases it can degenerate to the point where this obsession with materialism will lead to torrential rains (geshem) in ways that cause utter destruction. And this indeed is what happened to the generation of the flood. Their total surrender to their own most base instincts on a global scale resulted in their own destruction and even the destruction of the animals that inhabited the jungle.

Material and Spiritual Hedonism

But there can be another extreme that is associated with the excessive heat of the sun. If the sun is the symbol of G-dly light, warmth and vitalizing energy, how can there be excessive sun light?

The other extreme is when people are so obsessed with their own spirituality that they forget that they were placed in this world to cultivate it, help others thrive and contribute to their surroundings both materially and spiritually.

If we are imbued with intense light and warmth, we were commanded to share it with others. Instead the ‘sun” people are consumed with their own selfish spiritual interest. This concentration of G-dly heat in one place is anything but G-dly. It is actually a perversion of G-d’s intent and it results in a “desert” in which no man can live.

Our challenge is to strike the Jerusalem balance between rain and shine: To allow enough G-dly light to permeate our own souls so that we spread the light and warmth throughout our environment.

When we are deluged with geshem—i.e., our own selfish material interests—it reflects a lack of awareness of G-d because we are preoccupied with ourselves and not with what interests G-d. But even when we bask in the “desert heat,” we are no less selfabsorbed, albeit the selfish interests are of a spiritual nature. Just as there are “material” hedonists there can be “spiritual” hedonists, whose involvement with spirituality is a selfcentered. The common denominator is that they are both concerned with their own gratification.

The ideal is the pursuit of the “Jerusalem principle” of having a complete awareness of G-d. We should be asking ourselves, “What does G-d want?” rather than “what do we want?” even if our wants are positive and spiritual.

To be sure there are many levels and variations of the synthesis between rain and shine. But the ideal “climate” is that of Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem Miracle

We can now understand what our Sages in Ethics of the Fathers had in mind when they referred to a miracle that transpired in Jerusalem:

No one ever said to his fellow, “The space is too constricted for me to stay in Jerusalem.”

Commentators note that the Sages do not say that the miracle was that it was not crowded in spite of the hundreds and thousands of Jews that would gather there during the pilgrimage festivals. Instead it emphasizes the fact that no one ever complained about the crowded conditions. What was so significant about that miracle?

In light of the above we can appreciate this miracle. Indeed, this miracle captures the true nature and uniqueness of Jerusalem. When a person is a predominantly “rain” or materialistic person he or she cannot tolerate the presence of another on his or her territory. The situation becomes even more acutely intolerable when there are multitudes of people who are encroaching on his or her turf.

Similarly, the “sun” people who try to be secluded from others so they can spend time basking (read “meditating”) in the “sun” without any disturbance from others, will not be able to tolerate their suffocating presence, especially from those who are not spiritually inclined.

However, in Jerusalem—where there is a harmonious balance between rain and shine, the physical and spiritual, because it is the city that enjoys a sense of complete awareness of G-d—no one felt any discomfort notwithstanding the multitudes that had to share very cramped quarters. Everyone felt the inherent unity; that which binds one to the other rather than that which separates.

Next Year in Jerusalem!

Since the destruction of the Holy Temple and Jerusalem close to 2,000 years ago, Jerusalem is considered to be in exile. Despite the fact that the Jewish nation is now in control of the city and has miraculously been rebuilt and rehabilitated, nevertheless, without the presence of the Holy Temple in its midst it is still not capable of breaking out of the exile conditions that stifle its unifying power.

When we say “Next year in Jerusalem,” at the end of Yom Kippur and the Passover Seder, we mean the city that overtly exudes the complete, unadulterated and uncompromised awareness of G-d that enables it to harmoniously combine the rain and shine in all of its forms.

That will happen imminently with the coming of Moshiach, who, among other accomplishments, will rebuild the Temple, unify the Jewish people and restore peace and harmony to the entire world.

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Noach by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.